Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted equipment operating device for selecting from among a plurality of vehicle-mounted instruments using a line of sight of an operator of the vehicle.
Description of the Related Art
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0324779 (hereinafter referred to as “US2010/0324779A1”) discloses an apparatus in which, in the case that a line of sight L of a vehicle occupant is directed toward any one of a plurality of vehicle-mounted instruments (a side mirror 21, a room mirror 22, a navigation system 23, a vehicle-mounted telephone 24, an air outlet 25, or a meter panel 26), the vehicle-mounted instrument indicated by the line of sight L can be operated by a steering switch 16 (refer to the abstract).
According to the second embodiment of US2010/0324779A1, when the vehicle is being driven (i.e., when traveling), if a condition in which a vehicle-mounted instrument can be operated (a state in which a pilot lamp therefor is illuminated) exceeds a predetermined time, the vehicle-mounted instrument is switched from an operable condition to an inoperable condition, and the pilot lamp switches from an illuminated state to a flashing state or a non-illuminated (extinguished) state. In accordance with this feature, the occupant is notified of the fact that the vehicle-mounted instrument cannot be operated, and the line of sight L of the occupant can be returned to a frontal field of view to enable safe driving (see paragraphs [0068] and [0069]).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. JP2012-006552 (hereinafter referred to as “JP2012-006552A”) has the object of providing a vehicle-mounted equipment operating device, in which a vehicle-mounted instrument can easily be selected as a target object from among a plurality of vehicle-mounted instruments, and desired operations with respect to the vehicle mounted instrument that serves as the target object can be carried out easily and reliably (see paragraph [0005] and the abstract). For accomplishing this object, an operation control unit 35 of JP2012-006552A makes a judgment concerning the line of sight of an occupant by a line of sight judgment means 31, only when it is detected that an operating switch 33 is in an ON state, and in the case that the operating switch 33 is switched from an ON state to an OFF state, receives and accepts an operation to be performed with respect to a vehicle-mounted instrument, which has been notified by a notifying means 32, immediately prior to the OFF state (refer to the abstract).
More specifically, initiation and completion of judgment of the line of sight by the line of sight judgment means 31 are determined using ON and OFF states of a line of sight detection key 26, and operations with respect to the vehicle-mounted instrument are performed by inputs from a cross key 25 (see paragraphs [0020] and [0032] as well as FIG. 3 and FIGS. 5 through 9).